Wage Law

The Court of Appeal has affirmed the sustaining of a demurrer to a wage complaint brought by former chaplains at Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County, alleging violations of state laws regarding wage and hour requirements covering overtime, meal breaks and rest breaks, as well as to three fraud causes of action (intentional misrepresentation, concealment, and false promise). Curcini v. County of Alameda (2008) __ Cal.App. __. In the part of the opinion which is of interest to wage and hour practitioners, the court held that Labor Code §§ 510, 512, 226.7 and 1194 do not apply to charter counties such as the County of Alameda in the circumstances presented.

Charter counties have exclusive power under the California Constitution to determine the compensation of their employees. Cal. Const., art. XI, § 1, subd. (b); County of Riverside v. Superior Court (2003) 30 Cal.4th 278, 284-285. Thus, the court found it easy to determine that "Labor Code §§ 510 and 1194 relating to overtime pay address matters of “compensation” within the County’s exclusive constitutional purview pursuant to article XI, sections 1, subdivision (b), and 4." After some analysis, the court determined the same for the meal and rest break claims.

Appellants contend that meal and rest break claims relate to working conditions and not to compensation. Considered in a vacuum, the argument seems plausible. However, appellants are actually seeking monetary compensation for having been required to work through meal and rest breaks. As in our discussion of overtime pay, the link to compensation seems clear. As we have discussed above, our Supreme Court has recognized that in addition to the statutory language and its legislative history, the “compensatory purpose of the remedy” provided in Labor Code section 226.7 for violations of meal and rest period regulations, “compel the conclusion that the ‘additional hour of pay’ (ibid.) is a premium wage intended to compensate employees . . . .”

You can download Curcini v. County of Alameda here in pdf or word format.